Prosecutors Evoke FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried's Statements to Undermine His Defense

Sam Bankman-Fried's previous statements are now working against him in the fraud trial in Manhattan.

In the ongoing trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, his previous public statements and actions have come back to haunt him. During his high-flying days when FTX was at its peak, Bankman-Fried was known for his relentless communication with the public through tweets, TV interviews, and congressional pronouncements.

Now, as he faces a fraud trial in Manhattan, federal prosecutors are using his own words against him. On the second day of his testimony, prosecutor Danielle Sassoon relentlessly grilled Bankman-Fried for over four hours, pointing out inconsistencies between his public statements and his management of FTX, which spectacularly collapsed in November.

Bankman-Fried, who is 31, responded with curt "yeps" and "nos," and often claimed not to remember much of what he had said publicly, especially regarding FTX's handling of customer deposits and conflicts of interest within his businesses. This cross-examination revealed discrepancies in his claims, potentially damaging his credibility with the jury, consisting of nine women and three men who will decide his fate.

Prosecutor Sassoon displayed statements on a large projector screen, illustrating how Bankman-Fried would publicly state one thing and then act differently in private. She even had him recount FTX's outreach to government officials and then asked him to repeat private messages where he dismissed regulators with an expletive.

Bankman-Fried's testimony was highly anticipated, as it shed light on the hubris and risk-taking prevalent in the crypto industry. Once a prominent figure in the crypto world, he is now often compared to notorious fraudsters like Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos.

Taking the stand was a risky move, as criminal defendants typically avoid testifying to prevent prosecutors from questioning them. However,

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